CHAPTER 128

One time, two times, three times.

The mother's hands are busy adding water to the stew.

Since he was a child, Gott had enjoyed watching his mother cook, and had waited for the fragrant smell of the food coming from her fingertips.

Perhaps the concentration is just right now.

Four times, five times, six times...

However, at some point, the taste Gott remembered began to fade.

Even now, Gott remembered.

In front of the kitchen, the sight of his mother, looking apologetic as if caught.

"..."

The scent of the stew disappeared as the amount increased.

At that moment, when he saw his mother's expression, Gott realized what he had to do.

The cold reality was grabbing young Gott by the throat and shaking him.

Poverty makes people bow their heads to each other without any fault.

It makes people shrink and only look at the bottom.

So Gott decided to leave.

There was no chance to lift his head in this damn village anymore.

Until he met the mercenary who was praying, Gott of Wisteria Village was wandering around looking for an opportunity to look up.

※※※※

A simple dining table where even forks seemed unnecessary.

Chunks of potatoes, sliced thickly, bobbed in the bubbling stew, welcoming Vlad.

"I wonder if it will suit your taste, sir."

The table was set with everything they had, but Gott's mother seemed anxious, constantly wiping her hands on her apron, perhaps troubled by the meager ingredients.

"I'm sorry, Sir. If I had known you were coming, I would have at least prepared a piece of meat..."

A young knight appeared with his son.

From appearances alone, he seemed like a refined nobleman's heir, so it was obvious that the countryside woman's skills wouldn't satisfy him.

'I don't think they raised chickens.'

Vlad looked at the eggs in front of him.

Since he hadn't heard any chicken noises when he entered, she must have hastily borrowed these eggs from somewhere.

It was obviously not a generous situation, so she must have gathered them for her son.

"Please, Sir, help yourself."

Two eggs were placed in front of Gott.

Three eggs were placed in front of Vlad.

But even this one extra egg difference was undoubtedly for her son.

Before even tasting the stew, Vlad could feel Gott's mother's flavor.

"Thank you."

So Vlad deliberately swung the ladle and transferred the stew into his own bowl without hesitation.

He knew that acting confidently at times like this would relieve the burden on the host.

"...It's really fortunate that you came just in time like this."

Gott's mother, relieved to see Vlad scooping spoons without hesitation, immediately began to shed tears as she held her son's hand.

"We have no means to contact you, so the fact that you came for your younger sister's wedding surely means your father and brother must have called you here."

Vlad had his eyes and mouth glued to the stew, but his ears were open, and his ears perked up as he listened intently to the conversation.

"..."

Beyond the stew he held, an awkward gaze met the brown-haired woman.

She was none other than Gott's younger sister, with her ordinary appearance akin to that of a countryside girl.

"Can you attend Marie's wedding? Or do you need to leave immediately?"

"No, this is..."

Not only was it a long time since he visited, but it was also during a particularly courteous time, which made her feelings all the more profound.

However, Gott was not the one in charge of the journey; he was merely a squire accompanying the knight.

"Do you really need to leave, right away?"

"..."

Gott's eyes hesitantly darted around, unable to meet Vlad's gaze directly.

Seeing Gott's eyes, Vlad shrugged his shoulders.

'There's no other way.'

He hadn't wanted to be dragged into this unforeseen situation, but if it was only this much, he would have to put up with it for a while.

After all, he had planned to stay here for a day or two anyway.

"The stew is really delicious. Can I ask for it occasionally over the next few days?"

".....Thank you very much, Sir."

Gott's mother, who understood Vlad's answer, began to shed tears as she folded her hands over her chest.

In this village, where the warmth of stew comes with the approaching spring, Vlad decided to take a break for the first time in a long time.

※※※※

After finishing his meal, Vlad stepped outside and began to stroll around the surroundings leisurely.

It was both a consideration for Gott, to allow him to unwind with his family after a long absence, and a long-standing habit of observing the scenery around him.

"I don't think there is a stable in this house."

Hee-heeing—

Noir, who accompanied Vlad, kept tapping Vlad's back with his nose as they looked around, unable to see where he would be staying.

He dislikes humans, but he appreciates things made by humans.

The free-spirited soul of the grassland was thoroughly enjoying the advantages of civilization that could shield against the wild wind.

'They put a lot of effort into making it but don't use it...'

While strolling and quietly surveying the village, Vlad's eyes caught sight of a collapsing barn.

Although it was next to Gott's house, it seemed to have been abandoned for quite some time, with no signs of recent activity.

The slowly crumbling barn seemed to hold as many secrets as the spider webs hanging down.

"...I'll find you a proper place to settle down, just stop meddling."

Heee—

At Vlad's grumbling, Noir finally began to shake his head, as if his mood had finally eased.

Even without Noir's tantrum, Vlad had already been considering staying elsewhere other than Gott's house.

Gott's small, old house.

It wouldn't be very comfortable to cram the whole family into a small guest room and try to sleep there.

"Right on time."

In the distance, several village men could be seen climbing the hill towards Gott's house.

They were probably sent by the village chief.

Since news had spread that a knight had arrived in the village, it wouldn't be easy for the village chief to overlook the matter.

'...It seems Gott has gotten himself into something serious.'

However, as Vlad watched the young men climbing up, he couldn't help but furrow his brow.

Each of them held something in their hands as they climbed the hill.

No matter how you looked at it, they didn't seem like people welcoming back a long-absent member of the village.

"Hey, Gott!"

A booming voice that could be heard even in Vlad's ears as he ventured outside for a stroll.

As if wanting the whole village to hear, a burly man with a strong physique began shouting loudly.

"How did the debtor who secretly ran away at night come crawling back in again?!"

An attitude of picking a fight without reason.

And to top it off, a shiny dagger that didn't seem to have much use.

Seeing the typical appearance of troublemakers, Vlad realized that they hadn't come with good intentions towards Gott.

".....Thomson."

Gott, who had been relaxing with his family after a long absence, furrowed his brow and stepped outside.

It was a sudden and rude call, but Gott's attitude was calm, as if he had already expected it.

"Just because I enjoyed the night and left while admiring the moon doesn't make it skip town."

"Running away at night without paying your debts, that's what you call skipping town, you bastard!"

Gott's relaxed response seemed to irk the leader of the group, who started to grit his teeth.

"You still owe us the overdue barn usage fees!"

"The same old story, nothing's changed then and now. You guys seem to have made no progress at all."

Gott snorted as he looked at the group that came with weapons pointed at him.

There may have been a time when he trembled at this threat, but after experiencing the wider world with Vlad, the current situation seemed like child's play to Gott.

"Adding up the overdue interest, it totals 2 gold..."

"Get lost."

Shiny coins came flying towards him before he could finish his sentence.

The men looked surprised as they watched Gott casually tossing the gold coins.

"Eat that and get out of here. You annoying bastards."

"...This bastard."

It's different from before.

Gott, who used to be wary of them, now showed no trace of concern as he looked at them.

Gott, who had grown taller, looked down at them, and Thomson, the leader of the group, became enraged by his gaze.

"Do you think we would receive this money knowing where it came from? You swindler."

".....What?"

"We know you get this money after frauding people, like your father."

Now that the debt has been paid off, there is no need to talk anymore.

However, the man in front of him had no intention of leaving easily as he was picking at Gott's wounds.

Perhaps the tangled threads of emotions that had been brewing for a long time had led to this situation.

"I heard you even brought some kind of knight, a brat, this time? I heard you even carried the flag very proudly."

"Shut your mouth. If you keep babbling, you won't be able to handle the consequences."

"Why? Worried your little act might be exposed?"

The man called Thomson spun around, shouting loudly as if for everyone to hear.

"It is better to believe that the one you brought here is a fake than to believe that you have become a knight's squire. Everyone agrees!"

"Of course!"

"If he's not fake, why would he make someone like Gott his squire?"

"If he's willing to make a fool who can't even use a sword properly his squire, he must be at that level too!"

As Gott heard the mockery of the thugs, his eyes began to flush with anger.

If he didn't feel anger towards those who insulted not only his father but also Vlad, then he wouldn't deserve to stand as someone's son or squire.

"These crazy bastards."

Gott reached for his sword, placing his hand on the scabbard.

Although he hadn't properly learned to use a sword like they said, Gott had experienced the harsh world through his life as a mercenary.

"You bastards."

".....What?"

In the tense moment before drawing his sword, when Gott's mother and sister, who had been quietly hiding inside, rushed out to stop him, a voice was heard from behind.

"I am quite familiar with this kind of behavior."

A man approaches from afar, holding on to the reins of a black horse.

Though small, it was a voice that held the power to halt everyone's actions.

".....Are you the fake knight Gott brought?"

Vlad, who had temporarily removed his armor to be treated, looked like a fresh-faced youth to anyone.

His silver inner armor and the posture of his horse seemed exceptional, but to the men who had lived all their lives in a small village, there was no discerning between real and fake.

"He's a fake knight."

Vlad heard the man's words and scratched the back of his head.

How should he respond in this situation?

Looking at the fellow men he hadn't seen in a long time, the back alley thug suddenly raised his head.

"What if I'm the real one?"

"What?"

They ignored him and disrespected his squire.

As his honor as a knight was disregarded, even if Vlad killed them, he wouldn't have anything to explain.

"But this is Gott's hometown.

The force pressing on the men was becoming sharper as the blue eyes were turning round.

Facing the real presence for the first time in their life, the frogs in the well all fell silent.

"I'll let you live."

Perhaps it was because of the stew.

The memories of the stew, along with the image of his mother, and even the smell of the dark alley, all came flooding back.

"Come at me. You little punks."

Even if he wasn't a knight, Vlad had always been real.

The rising star of the back alleys, born from a prostitute but purebred, faced the naive village thugs with fierceness.

※※※※

"If such a thing happened, shouldn't you have informed me first?"

The village chief's house, remarkably well-built for a small village.

But now, within it, a suppressed anger was seeping out.

"Stefan, calm down."

The village chief pulled out a chair and spoke to the mercenary leader, who was becoming increasingly fierce, as if to calm him down.

"What kind of knight would come to this small village? And to make matters worse, the one who brought him was Gott. That lad is not fit to bring a real knight."

"....I will say it again, Village Chief."

The man with scarlet hair.

Stefan, the captain of the Thornwood Mercenaries, warned the village chief with a pointed finger, asserting his authority.

"Anything related to the village's security must be done through me. Do not forget, this is also the Lord's will."

Stefan's warning, mixed with anger, carried a force that even the experienced village chief couldn't easily dismiss.

"Very well. From now on, it will be done as you say."

Stefan didn't want to mess up the task he was given for once.

If things went awry from the beginning in this new area, the Thornwood Mercenaries might have to start wandering aimlessly again.

"As you say, there won't be such incidents in the future..."

"Village Chief!"

The village chief, who had been trying to calm Stefan down, couldn't continue as the door suddenly burst open.

"Urgent news! Urgent news!"

The man who rushed in as if to break down the door.

His face was so distorted that it was hard to recognize him, but he was one of the thugs who roamed around with his son.

"That knight, the fake one, no, the real one..."

"No, why..."

The village chief looked at him with a surprised expression.

His face was swollen to the point of being unrecognizable even to his own parents.

Gasping for breath between the broken front teeth, he struggled to speak.

"That guy might kill Thomson!"

"..."

After hearing the shocking report, the village chief unknowingly pushed past Stefan and hurriedly ran out the open door.

For the village chief, the safety of his only son was just as important.

"Aaaaah!"

A scream echoed from the hill above, unmistakably the voice of his son, Thomson.

"Damn it..."

Stefan bit his lip and followed the village chief, who was rushing ahead.

Surely, the village chief's son had gotten into some trouble.

"Help meeee!"

Along with the pitiful scream from afar, clouds of dust rose.

It was the dust kicked up by Thomson, whose feet were tied to the horse and being dragged around.

"Thomson! Someone stop him!"

The panicked village chief shouted incoherently as he saw his son's plight, but nobody in the village could easily halt the charging horse.

As Thomson's injuries became evident, traces of blood were etched across the village.

"Who's the village chief here?"

The black horse, which had been running amok for a while, finally came to a stop in front of the village square.

Though still visibly agitated, Vlad's demeanor was now more composed.

"Step forward, the village chief of this place."

With blonde hair and blue eyes, the man atop the horse was too fierce to be just a knight, yet too bold to be a mere thug.

Stefan recognized the stranger from afar and swallowed his saliva without realizing it.

He was a formidable ally, but equally formidable as an enemy.

"Who dares to send such a lowly fellow and disrespect the honor of a knight! Who is the village chief here!"

His voice resounded like thunder, leaving the villagers frozen in place.

Small evil always succumbs to greater evil.

The village chief's son, who had abused his power until now, lay bloodied and gasping for breath before the real thug.